Page 16 - He understood b' implicit faith : Whatever sceptic could inquire for, For every why he had a wherefore ; Knew more than forty of them do, As far as words and terms could go ; All which he understood by rote, And, as occasion serv'd, would quote ; No matter whether right or wrong, They might be either said or sung.

Page 14 - He'd undertake to prove, by force Of argument, a man's no horse; He'd prove a buzzard is no fowl, And that a lord may be an owl, A calf an alderman, a goose a justice, And rooks committee-men and trustees. He'd run in debt by disputation, And pay with ratiocination. All this by syllogism, true In mood and figure, he would do.

Page 18 - For he was of that stubborn crew Of errant saints, whom all men grant To be the true church militant ; Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun ; Decide all controversies by Infallible artillery ; And prove their doctrine orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks...

Page 19 - The self-same thing they will abhor One way and long another for ; Freewill they one way disavow, Another, nothing else allow ; All piety consists therein In them, in other men all sin. Rather...

Page 12 - Th' adventure of the bear and fiddle Is sung, but breaks off in the middle. When civil fury first grew high, And men fell out, they knew not why; When hard words, jealousies, and fears, Set folks together by the ears, And made them fight, like mad or drunk, For Dame Religion, as for punk...

Page 14 - Tis plain enough he was no such; We grant, although he had much wit, He was very shy of using it; As being loth to wear it out. And therefore bore it not about, Unless on holy-days, or so, As men their best apparel do.

Page 169 - But to swear idly, and in vain, Without self-interest or gain ; For breaking of an oath and lying, Is but a kind of self-denying, A saint-like virtue, and from hence . Some have broke oaths by providence ; Some, to the glory of the Lord, Perjur'd themselves, and broke their word : And this the constant rule and practice Of all our late apostles acts is.